To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor PA Davies.

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008 (including whipping declarations)

The Chairperson declared a personal interest in Agenda item 4., in that a family member Contracts for the County Borough in the field of Marketing.

To receive for approval the minutes of the meeting of 29/04/19

RESOLVED:                        That the Minutes of a meeting of Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1 dated 29 April 2019 be approved as a true and accurate record.

Invitees:

Mark Shephard – Chief Executive

Councillor Dhanisha Patel – Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations

Martin Morgans – Head of Performance and Partnership Services

Phil O’Brien – Group Manager – Transformation and Customer Services

Nicola Bunston – Consultation, Engagement and Equalities Manager

Liam Ronan – Communications Manager

Natalie Morris – Support Officer – Communications, Marketing and Engagement

The Chairperson commenced proceedings by welcoming the Invitees to the meeting and the necessary introductions were made.

The Chief Executive began by giving an outline of the report, the purpose of which, was to update the Committee on the work of the Communications, Marketing and Engagement Team for the period of 2018/19.

The Chairperson then opened up the meeting for questions to the Invitees from Members.

A Member felt that the likes of Communications and Marketing etc, needs to be spread to all levels including being cascading down to organisations such as Town and Community Councils, where information regarding events can be placed on Noticeboards and even in shop windows. It was important he considered, to spread as wide as possible, publications such as Overview and Scrutiny Call-in meetings which are arranged at short notice. He appreciated that there was no one solution that fits all, however, he felt that social media was not accessed by everyone, especially some of the more elderly in society.

A Member added to this, by stating that Schools should be also be used as a method of relaying the holding of important events onto the public, ie in bulletins to parents.

The Chief Executive confirmed that he was in agreement with suggestions of this nature.

A Member confirmed that consideration could also be given, for information to be shared with the elderly in residential homes and sheltered accommodation, and possibly for learning and development courses being introduced in Call Centres and/or Community Centres. This would assist the Council, due to more of the public communicating with it digitally, rather than in letter/paper format.

The Head of Performance and Partnership Services advised that a considerable amount of Communication type of information, is channelled through the Citizen’s Panel, and a number of the people that comprise this are of an elderly status.

A Member added that local shops and post offices should be used to display notices regarding up and coming events, and as was alluded to earlier, literature should also be sent to Clerks of Town/Community Councils to display in their offices/Community Centres. She further added that the public visit places such as this, more than they do Libraries and Leisure Centres.

The Consultation, Engagement and Equalities Manager advised that paper copies of events and issues that require to be communicated to the public, ie consultation on the Budget (MTFS) are displayed through Council providers such as Arwen (libraries) and Halo (leisure centres), though the Communications Team may need to consider being more proactive with asking retail proprietors to place notices in the window of their premises. If asked, they would have to agree to this in any event she explained. Further work was also needed in this area in more rural communities and this would be looked at further. There were however, audiences that were targeted for emotive issues, particularly those aligned to services to the public and any proposed reduction of these, for example reduced bus subsidies and the closure of public toilets.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to request the Committee to nominate one Member as its Corporate Parenting Champion to represent the Committee as an invitee to meetings of the Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting.

The Chairperson invited nominations from the floor, following which it was

RESOLVED:                        That Councillor J Gebbie be nominated as the representative of Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1 to sit as an Invitee on the Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting.

The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to request the Committee to nominate one Member to sit on the Public Service Board Scrutiny Panel.

The Chairperson invited nominations from the floor, following which it was

RESOLVED:                      That Councillor K Watts be nominated as the representative of Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee 1 to sit as a Member of the Public Service Board Scrutiny Panel.

The Scrutiny Officer presented a report, which provided an update on the above.

Attached to the report at Appendix A was details of feedback from the previous meetings of the SO&SC 1 to consider and approve. This section of the report, also included a list of responses including any that were still outstanding.

Attached at Appendix B to the report was the overall FWP for the SO&SC’s which included the topics prioritised by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the next set of SO&SC’s in Table A, as well as topics that were deemed important for future prioritisation at Table B

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None.